**Chapter 2: Storms in the Home and in Our Hearts**

The year was 1983. The city was drowning in the grayness of communist Poland. Marek returned late one evening from his factory job. Tired, with dirt and dust on his hands, he entered the apartment where Elżbieta was sitting at the table, reviewing bills.

"It's late again..." she said, not looking up.

"The work is hard, but you have to..." Marek began, but hesitated when he saw the children sitting in the next room. Piotr was reading a technical book, and Aleksandra was drawing something in her notebook, clearly lost in daydreaming.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the children's cousin, Małgosia, a girl with a fiery temperament, burst into the room. "Come out into the street! Everyone's going to the demonstration!"

Piotr looked up, terrified. "We can't... Dad won't let us!"

Aleksandra smiled faintly. "Maybe it's time to try..." she whispered, a spark of rebellion flickering in her eyes.

Marek overheard part of the conversation. He descended the stairs to the children's room, his expression menacing. "No demonstrations! The consequences are dire. Whoever risks themselves loses everything!"

Aleksandra didn't back down. "I want to know what life is like, the life you fear! I want to choose for myself!"

The silence in the room was thick, like fog. Marek looked away and sighed heavily. Something new appeared in his eyes—fear and understanding at the same time. He knew he couldn't stop her. In that moment, he understood that the generation that had carried the burden of silence and tradition must finally allow something to change.

The next day, Piotr and Aleksandra set out onto the street. Marek watched from the window, his heart trembling—not just from fear, but from the feeling that a new generation would dare to live differently than he and his ancestors.